Evolutionary sequences of the Neogene major climatic events in the Tibetan Plateau

Through a comprehensive analysis of different indexes of the Neogene climatic studies in the Tibetan Plateau, the authors established the Neogene sequence of the major climatic events and discussed the relationship between the Tibetan Plateau uplift and the major global climate events. The fact that the time of the major climatic events in the Neogene was almost synchronous with the time of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau means that the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau was the main factor responsible for the climate change in the Tibetan Plateau. However, there exist some temporal differences and similarities between the major climatic events in the Tibetan Plateau and the major global climate events. In the early and middle Miocene, climate change in the Tibetan Plateau was frequent, and the beginning of cooling was earlier than 15Ma, which suggests that the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau made a considerable contribution to the cooling of the Earth before the late Miocene. Since the late Miocene, major climate events in the Tibetan Plateau coincided with important global climate events, which may imply that the Tibetan Plateau had reached a certain height and its impact on global climate was weakened than before.